Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Reverse evolution and evolutionary memory

Nature Genetics volume 41, pages 142–143 (2009)Cite this article

Experimental reverse evolution, in which a population is readapted to an ancestral environment, can probe the nature and extent of evolutionary memory. A new study shows that standing genetic variation is key to this memory in experimental Drosophila populations, where selection drives rapid but incomplete convergence to ancestral genotypes.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Schematic of the effect of selective landscape on evolutionary memory.

References

  1. Travisano, M., Mongold, J.A., Bennett, A.F. & Lenski, R.E. Science 267, 87–90 (1995).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Teotónio, H., Chelo, I.M., Bradic, M., Rose, M.R. & Long, A.D. Nat. Genet. 41, 251–257 (2009).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Hermisson, J. & Pennings, P.S. Genetics 169, 2335–2352 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Barrett, R.D.H. & Schluter, D. Trends Ecol. Evol. 23, 38–44 (2007).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Crill, W.D., Wichman, H.A. & Bull, J.J. Genetics 154, 27–37 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Burch, C.L. & Chao, L. Genetics 151, 921–927 (1999).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Bull, J.J. & Charnov, E.L. Evolution Int. J. Org. Evolution 39, 1149–1155 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Porter, M.L. & Crandall, K.A. Trends Ecol. Evol. 18, 541–547 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Teotónio, H. & Rose, M.R. Evolution Int. J. Org. Evolution 55, 653–660 (2001).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Levin, B.R., Perrot, V. & Walker, N. Genetics 154, 985–997 (2000).

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Massey, R.C., Buckling, A. & Peacock, S.J. Curr. Biol. 11, 1810–1814 (2001).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Teotónio, H., Matos, M. & Rose, M.R. J. Evol. Biol. 15, 608–617 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Teotónio, H. & Rose, M.R. Nature 408, 463–466 (2000).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Michael M. Desai is at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA. mmdesai@princeton.edu,

    Michael M Desai

Authors
  1. Michael M Desai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Desai, M. Reverse evolution and evolutionary memory. Nat Genet 41, 142–143 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0209-142

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ng0209-142

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing